PSC Men's Hoop upsets LEC pre-season favorite ECSU

Dec 04, 1999

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - So much for pre-season
coaches' polls.

The Plymouth State College men's basketball team, picked by the
Little East Conference coaches to finish sixth in this year's race,
stunned pre-season favorite Eastern Connecticut State University
Saturday afternoon at Geissler Gymnasium, 81-77, in the LEC opener
for both schools.

The Panthers rebound from their first loss of the season
Thursday night to perennial New England power Salem State, to
improve to 4-1 overall under first-year head coach John
Scheinman. Eastern Conn. drops to 3-3.

The Warriors took a 41-34 halftime lead, but this was anyone's
game most of the second half. The teams were tied at 69-69 with
five minutes remaining, and 76-all with 1:50 to play.

PSC freshman Dan Craig (Chelmsford, Mass.)
canned a pair of free throws and senior JaModi
Robinson (Framingham, Mass.) hit a runner in the lane to
give the Panthers an 80-76 advantage with 36 seconds remaining.
ECSU's Ronell John (Corona, NY) and PSC's Shannon
Gallagher (Plymouth, NH) traded free throws in the final
29 seconds, but the Warriors were unable to sink any field goals
down the stretch, and the Panthers held on for the win.

Junior Tony Martinez (Barnstead, NH) turned in
another strong performance for the Panthers down low. He scored a
team-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, hitting 7-of-15
shots from the floor. Martinez has led PSC in scoring in all five
contests this season.

PSC also got 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists from
Gallagher, and 14 points from Robinson. The Panthers shot 52
percent from the field, while holding ECSU to 39 percent shooting.
The Warriors also struggled at the line, making only eight of 20
tries.

Gallagher, who entered the game four points shy of 1,000 for his
career, wasted little time in reaching the milestone. He canned a
pair of three-pointers in the opening two minutes of the contest to
put him over the mark. Gallagher scored 699 points for Norwich
University from 1995-97, and has now added 312 in a Panther
uniform.

PSC returns to action Tuesday (Dec. 7) with a non-conference
encounter at Rivier College (7:00 p.m.). The Raiders are coached by
former PSC player and assistant coach Dave Morissette.